Picture Book Reading Lists: Fifteen of Our Favorites

Anno, Mitsumasa. 1977. Anno’s Counting Book. Crowell. (Counting.) A counting book depicting the growth in a village and surrounding countryside during 12 months.

Crews, Donald. 1978. Freight Train. Greenwillow. (Concept.) Colors and the names of the cars on a freight train are introduced with sparse but rhythmic text and brilliantly colored illustrations. A Caldecott Honor Book.

Henkes, Kevin. 1990. Julius, the Baby of the World. Greenwillow. (Picture story.) Lilly is convinced that the arrival of her new baby brother is the worst thing that has happened in their house, until Cousin Garland comes to visit.

Hepworth, Cathi. 1992. Antics! An Alphabetical Anthology. Putnam. (ABC.) Alphabet entries from A to Z all have an “ant” somewhere in the word, such as E for Enchanter, P for Pantaloons, S for Santa Claus, and Y for Your Ant Yetta.

Mayer, Mercer. 1974. Frog Goes to Dinner. Dial. (Wordless.) Having stowed away in a pocket, Frog wreaks havoc and disgraces his human family at the posh restaurant where they are having dinner.

Parish, Peggy. 1963. Amelia Bedelia. Illustrated by Fritz Siebel. Harper. (Beginning reader.) A literal-minded housekeeper causes a ruckus in the household when she attempts to make sense of some instructions.

Peet, Bill. 1982. Big Bad Bruce. Houghton Mifflin. (Picture story.) Bruce, a bear bully, never picks on anyone his own size until he is diminished in more ways than one by a small but very independent witch.

Sendak, Maurice. 1963. Where the Wild Things Are. Harper. (Picture story.) A naughty little boy, sent to bed without his supper, sails to the land of the Wild Things, where he becomes their king. Winner of the Caldecott Medal.

Steig, William. 1982. Doctor DeSoto. Farrar. (Picture story.) A clever mouse dentist outwits his wicked fox patient. A Newbery Honor Book.

Turkle, Brinton. 1981. Do Not Open. Dutton. (Picture story.) Following a storm, Miss Moody and her cat find an intriguing bottle washed up on the beach. Should they ignore its “Do not open” warning?

Van Allsburg, Chris. 1981. Jumanji. Houghton Mifflin. (Picture story.) Left on their own for an afternoon, two bored and restless children find more excitement than they bargain for in a mysterious and mystical jungle adventure board game. Winner of the Caldecott Medal.

Waber, Bernard. 1972. Ira Sleeps Over. Houghton Mifflin. (Picture story.) A little boy is excited at the prospect of spending the night at his friend’s house, but worries about how he’ll get along without his teddy bear.

Wells, Rosemary. 1979. Max’s First Word. Dial. (Baby/board.) It seems Max can say only one word, no matter how hard his older sister tries to teach him others.

Wiesner, David. 2006. Flotsam. (Wordless.) A boy spots a mysterious, old camera that washes up on the beach and discovers a fantasy-filled mystery waiting for him on the roll of film inside.